Cistern.



vPA'IEITTIEID OCT. 31, 1905.

E. & C. LAENGER.

CISTBRN.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 1e, 1904.

owoooooooooewowf.. o a oo o oe o R:

narran sTAgrEs PATENT CHEMIE.

CISTERN.

Specicaton of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 31, 1905.

Applicationiiled April 16, 1904. Serial No. 203,475.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that we, ERNEST LAENGER and CHARLES LAENGER, citizens of the United States, residing at Shreveport, in the parish of Caddo and State of Louisiana,have invented new and useful Improvements in Cisterns, of which the following 1s a specification.

Our invention relates to cisterns; and its objects are to provide means to enable the sediment deposited by the water to be collected at one point and readily drawn off from the cistern, and in so doing to provide asettlingbasin of such arrangement that the water itselfof the cistern may act as a support for the basin, and thereby avoid the necessity for a strong and expensive construction of basin.

To these ends our invention is preferably embodied in the construction hereinafter described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing'.

In the drawing the view shown is a vertical central section of a cistern containing our improvements.

Referring to the drawing, c designates the ordinary cistern-body, which is ordinarily made of cast-iron, but ma;T be of other suitable material. In the upper part of the cistern, at the entrance-opening thereof, is a strainer adapted to prevent foreign articles from entering the water. The cistern is preferably and according to the usual construction made up of horizontal sections c, secured together suitably. To the bottom section cis secured a concave settling-basin d, formed, preferably, of sheet-iron plates. The Lipper edge of the settling-basin fits closely to the inner surface of the cistern, so as to form a closed continuation of the upper part of the cistern, and thereby prevent any of the water from passing down behind the edge of the basin, but carrying it all into the basin, Where any sediment contained in the water will be deposited. The open lower end e of the basin terminates some distance above the bottom of the tank and communicates with a flushingpipe f. provided with a two-way cock g, which also controls pipe 0, leading from the waterchamber, by which arrangement all the sediment will be collected at a single point and is readily drawn off by the flushing-pipe, and also when the basin is iiushed theinward pressure in the water-chamber will be relieved.

Between the interior of the basin d and the chamber 71 formed between the exterior thereof and the Wall of the cistern, are provided means of automatic communication consisting of a bent pipe a', secured to and passing through the wall of the casing. This pipe has two vertical arms .7' It', and in a seat at the mouth of arm j is placed a suitable valve l, which may be either a ball-valve, as shown, or a Hap check-valve.

Communicating with the interior of the settling-basin, a short distance above the settling-point, so as to extend into the clearest water, is an outlet service-pipe m.

Leading from the upper part of the waterchamber /t is a vertical vent-pipe n, open at both ends.

In use the water enters the cistern at the upper open part through the strainer and passes into the settling-basin d. The close contact between the basin-wall and cisternwall insures that all the water must enter the settling-basin. When the water in the basin rises to the pipe c' or to acertain height above it, according to the weight of the Valve Z, it will enter the pipe and flow into the waterchamber t. The water will continue to flow into the water-chamber until the pressure of the water therein equals the pressure within the cistern-body and basin, and when the Water-chamber is lled the water therein will then form a support for the comparatively thin wall of the settling-basin. Vhen the water is withdrawn from above the bottom of the settling-basin through the service-pipe, the valve Z of pipe c' will close and prevent the water from entering the settling-basin from the outside water-chamber.

In the ordinary construction of cisterns having a flat bottom it is veryv diflicult to clean the cistern of sediment and impracticable to do so by flushing, as the sediment will collect in the edge between wall and bottom. The use of a concave bottom or settling-basin communicating at its central point with a flushingpipe independently of the cistern causes the sediment to collect at one point and permits it to be readily drawn olf therefrom.

With our arrangement` whereby the water is admitted behind the wall of the basin, a thin sheet-iron basin wall may be employed, and the water will form the support for the water above in the cistern. The water-support also enables this conical basin to be applied to the ordinary cistern without the necessity of supplying extra means of support, such as braces or masonry. In view of the water-support the lower open end of thebasin may terminate, as shown, directly in the discharge-pipe, without. supportv upon the Hat bottom. The special form of device or its equivalent shown for establishing communication between the basin and the water-chamber-namely, the pipe -also renders it possible to have a clos d continuous cistern-body, and thereby introduce all the water into the settling-basin and collect the sediment from all the water that is to be utilized.` The vent-pipe n permits the water in the chamber to flow to the level of the top of the cistern should thecistern be full.

Itis clear that various changes-may bey made in the details of embodiment without departing from the scope of our invention.

Having thus described our invention, what weclaim is- 1. 1n combination with a cisternbody,a conical settling-basin at-the lower end of the cistern, said basin having atits-upper end a close contact with the cistern-bod'y, and forming a chamber between the basin andcistern-body, a drain-pipe, said basin at its lower end communicating with said drain-pipe, and means of water communication between the said basin and chamber whereby a supporting waterpressure is established in said chamber, substantially as described.

2. A cistern having a settling-basin, formed by a conical' wall,.the cistern-wall, said conical Wall and cistern-wall having a close contact at the upper end of the Jfornner, said walls forming an auxiliary chamberA between them, a drain-pipe for leading off sediment from the lower end of said basin, means of water communication between the basin and said chamnber, whereby7 a supporting water-pressure may be established in the latter, and a cistern outlet-pipe leading voutside the cistern from a point at a considerable height above the lower end of the basin, whereby the water will be drawn off from above the settling-point of the sediment, substantially as described.

3. A cistern having a conical settling-basin, said basin having a lower open end, a sediment drain-pipe and supporting and communicating with said basin at the said lower end, a cistern-wall and a closed chamber formed between said basin and wall, meansof cornmunication from the inner side of the basin with the chamber, whereby a water-support for the basin is provided, and a vent-pipe leading upwardly from said chamber, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ERNEST LAENGER. CHAS. LAENGER.

Witnesses:

A. H. BERNSTEIN, GEO. K. PHILLIPS. 

